The Daily Read

Brazen Careerist Brazen Career Lessons from Breaking Bad One of the best written shows on television has two shows left.  No one condones Walt’s business, but no one can say that Heisenberg is a bad businessman.  Kelly Gurnett has five Heisenberg qualities that we can all apply to our daily work.  Quality heads the list for a reason:  Without quality output, the rest are not attainable.  

Seth Godin Unreasonable Clients “Who gets your best work?”  We have all worked for the client from hell, who assumes servitude (as opposed to service) is what they bought.  As a one off, it’s workable and also helps to showcase the talents of the team handling that client.  But what do you do about the perennial problem client.  As a 24 year old suddenly thrust into a branch management position, I found myself servicing a problem client who paid far below local minimums and we could not support the position.  We resigned the contract and helped them find a comparable provider, amid the usual “We’ll ruin you” threats.  We refocused on our core clients and restored branch quality and performance.  The problem client?  Two years later we signed a new contract with them at a reasonable rate so that no one lost money, time, or sleep.  My takeway from that almost 30 years ago: You’re assessing the client’s quality at the same time they are assessing your quality as a provider.  Don’t be afraid to NOT bid on bad work, but when you do, bid accurately and wisely.